Garden

[purple]

I hope the storm does not hurt the seedlings. I just discovered the cucumbers are coming up already! We have had plenty of rain over the weekend so that helped. I still don't have my zuccs and yellow squash sowed yet, ugg! I need to get on it tomorrow.

Thanks Roda!

I was supposed to START hardening my seedlings today. ugh! Its been SNOWING for several hours!!!!! Rain predicted all week.....

[Juliebove]

Wah! I fear it has been too cold/cool here in Western Washington. I didn't plant anything at all this season. Two years ago I planted early as we had an odd heat wave, then it got cold again and things either died or bolted during the heat wave. Last year it got very hot during the summer. I got some tomatoes, but they didn't taste any better than what you can buy at the store and then we got a lot of rain. I use Earth Boxes and apparently they just don't drain enough. Got a good crop of onions though. And some did come back so I have green ones out there now. But that's about all I'll get this year I think.

[Roda]

All my stuff is doing good. My four volunteer tomato plants out of all seven are doing the best. I have one tomato on my mr. stripy plant the size of my thumb! I have romaine lettuce coming out of my ears. I've been cutting lots of oregano and mint. My beans are nice and I think they will blossom soon. The cucumbers are starting to vine. I have two mystery plants that came up in the compost. One I think is a pumpkin or some kind of melon. I have it planted in a big bag of garden dirt resting on a wooden palate in the lower driveway. It is starting to vine so I am going to get some straw and lay the chips down on the concrete to let it vine on. It will be interesting to see. I planted lots of flowers in pots and hanging baskets that are really filling in and are pretty. My favorite is the moss rose aka Portulaca grandiflora, that I planted in my strawberry pots. They are blooming various colors and I don't have to water them every day, they're succulants. How's everyone else doing?

[purple]

All my stuff is doing good. My four volunteer tomato plants out of all seven are doing the best. I have one tomato on my mr. stripy plant the size of my thumb! I have romaine lettuce coming out of my ears. I've been cutting lots of oregano and mint. My beans are nice and I think they will blossom soon. The cucumbers are starting to vine. I have two mystery plants that came up in the compost. One I think is a pumpkin or some kind of melon. I have it planted in a big bag of garden dirt resting on a wooden palate in the lower driveway. It is starting to vine so I am going to get some straw and lay the chips down on the concrete to let it vine on. It will be interesting to see. I planted lots of flowers in pots and hanging baskets that are really filling in and are pretty. My favorite is the moss rose aka Portulaca grandiflora, that I planted in my strawberry pots. They are blooming various colors and I don't have to water them every day, they're succulants. How's everyone else doing?

I am glad yours is doing well!

Mine is doing well, finally. Rain delayed it a week or two. All crops are up except for melons and pumpkins. Some things are slow like the cabbage. I plan to transplant the peppers today but the sky is black so maybe not until tomorrow. Zukes and cukes popped up 3 days ago. One potato plant died but I have dozens left...I planted too many! The only thing picked so far is lettuce. Everything else starts to come on mid July...waiting...waiting...waiting...

Oh and just two weeks ago someone gave us some raspberry starts. They will soon bud like our blackcaps are doing.

[4boysmom]

I feel like I am chiming in late on this, but I am going to chime in anyway if that is ok.

We plant every year. Always buy live plants, until my 7 y/o discovered the seed isle. He would plant one of everything if we would let him. We don't have much room for a garden but last year I was able to talk hubby into letting us expand some.

This year we have three tomato plants (two large and one small variety) four jalapeno pepper plants (hubby got a little carried away - guess I will be pickling a lot of peppers), three okra plants, carrots by seed (this is a new one for us and we have the 7 y/o to thank)and four yellow squash. It was only supposed to be two squash.

Funny story about the squash. Last year I talked hubby into letting me plant a honeydew. He finally conceded saying it wouldn't do anything anyway. Yeah right! It practically took over the garden and made the best honeydew. ha ha the joke was on him. This year before the boys tilled up my garden area I had two plants come up volunteer. Based on where they were located and how they looked at the time we decided that they were honeydew (several went bad in the garden at the end of the season). I carefully dug them up and put them in pots until I could get their new honeydew home ready. Then when the new honeydew area was ready I carefully transplanted them again just hoping they would live. They did live and as they grew they began to suspiciously look like squash plants. That is because they were squash plants!!!! UGH. We were so disappointed. The squash we planted last year was not very good but I couldn't bear to pull up these living plants that I cared for so much. Hope the squash is better this year. We call them our honeydew squash because mommy is blonde. I did go buy a honeydew plant though. Planted it late but hope to have some yummy honeydew at the end of the season.

[Roda]

I just got back from vacation. My neighbor was taking care of my garden. Everything looks great except for my squash plants I have in bags. They did not get nearly enough water. Two are probably not going to make it but the rest will. I'm not really upset because he was nice enough to take care of it for me and he and his wife are the best neighbors you could have! I have green beans ready to pick this morning and I have cucumbers coming on. I found two last night in the dark, washed them and the boys' and I ate them. YUM!

[purple]

My garden is finally looking like a garden. We have had lots of lettuce. I picked and ate my first 2 sugar snap peas today...yum! Corn is slow, needs some nitrogen. I am learning about fertilizer this yr.

I ate a new potato too. I found my first potato beetles, only 2 so far. Never had them last yr but now I know what to look for. Zukes and pumpkins are growing fast, I can hardly wait to bake with them. I have a few baby tomatoes. What is fun is to watch the volunteer surprises pop up. So far: 5 potato plants here and there, 11 lettuce plants and 3 or 4 somethings-probably cucumber or cantaloupe. Two of them are inside the tomato cages. the purple kohlrabi are pretty plants (my favorite color is purple so of course they are pretty!)

[Roda]

I've been picking green beans. My first picking on Monday morning I got a plastic grocery bag 3/4 full. Thats quite a few considering I only two rows about 7' long and another patch about 3'. I've been picking them now as they come on. I just picked 5 more cucumbers and we are going to eat them for supper with the green beans. Now I'm waiting on my zuccs and squash. There are some coming on, but not ready to pick. I've got tons of tomatoes but they are still green. When they do ripen they probably will be all ready at once. Canning here I come. My neighbor said his cousin's pear tree is loaded and will take me picking. There is a couple of apple trees there also. I can have all I want. I'll can them up for him and I like I did two summers ago. He dearly loved the pears I did up in a honey syrup. I also made applesauce and used honey. My hubby and boys are begging me to make the applesauce again.

[summerteeth]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I have a TON of kohlrabi. While I like it raw, does anyone have any tried and true recipes for it? I think kohlrabi in a stir fry would be tasty...

Also, my compost bin sprouted! Now I have either watermelon or cantelope and of course pumpkins... I love it when that happens - last year we had mystery zucchini and tomatoes from our compost.

[jackay]

Our garden is growing deer! Lettuce looked wonderful and the next day it was all chewed down. The beets were completely gone. Now the squash and cucumber vines, along with the bean leaves are being eaten. We have a few fences that we can bend over some of the plants. Looks like we will have to invest in more of those. May also have to get some netting to put over the vining plants.

It sounds like their is going to be a city ordinance forbidding feeding the deer in winter. I doubt that will stop some people. Last year we had close to 30 deer walk through the back yard, all at the same time. It sure is frustrating.

[Roda]

Our garden is growing deer! Lettuce looked wonderful and the next day it was all chewed down. The beets were completely gone. Now the squash and cucumber vines, along with the bean leaves are being eaten. We have a few fences that we can bend over some of the plants. Looks like we will have to invest in more of those. May also have to get some netting to put over the vining plants.

It sounds like their is going to be a city ordinance forbidding feeding the deer in winter. I doubt that will stop some people. Last year we had close to 30 deer walk through the back yard, all at the same time. It sure is frustrating.

Some suggestions for keeping the deer out of your garden that my mother has tried and had luck with: put a radio out in the garden and have it on a timer to come on and off at certain times, tie scented soap or fabric softner sheets around the fence and tying metal pie tins around also. These have worked for my mom in the past. This year the deer have been sneeky and got some of her stuff.

[purple]

Dug my first new red potatoes today...yum...they melt in your mouth!!!

[Roda]

Dug my first new red potatoes today...yum...they melt in your mouth!!!

Sounds good. I picked my first almost ripe tomato. I lost all of my squash plants to some kind of grub that was eating the stems of the plant. I have never had that happen before.

[purple]

Sounds good. I picked my first almost ripe tomato. I lost all of my squash plants to some kind of grub that was eating the stems of the plant. I have never had that happen before.

Could be squash vine borers. I've never had them before. Search about it under vegetables on:

Open Original Shared Link

I learned alot over there about gardening. Now I am learning about canning. I want to make a gluten-free/df tomato soup for my dd and can it. Gotta learn how to can first.

I have 2 yellow romas and lots a baby green tomatoes. My first zucchini flower opened yesterday and the baby zuke has doubled in size already!

I am sorry you lost yours. It might not be too late to try again in your area. Last fall I just covered mine to protect from frost.

[Roda]

Yep that is exactly what I had. I have grown squash/zucchini for many years and never had that. I am going to sow a few more seeds and see what happens. I ate my first ripe tomato today. It was a mr. stripy. It wasn't very big, but boy was it good. I shared half with my 5 year old who loves tomatoes more than I do.

[purple]

I got to can for the first time today. Pickled beets...my favorite!

My dh doesn't like snow peas so I only planted 20 seeds. He just came in the house saying how good the peas were! Go figure!!

[miles2go]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I have a TON of kohlrabi. While I like it raw, does anyone have any tried and true recipes for it? I think kohlrabi in a stir fry would be tasty...

Also, my compost bin sprouted! Now I have either watermelon or cantelope and of course pumpkins... I love it when that happens - last year we had mystery zucchini and tomatoes from our compost.

We are growing purple kohlrabi this year that needs to be harvested soon and I was just searching recipes. I haven't tried it, but I'm excited to try a Punjabi recipe for it. In my Flavor Bible I found basil, butter, Parmesan, dill, garlic, mustard, sesame and soy sauce as complements that I want to try, too.

I love it when the compost bin sprouts. We got tons of tomato volunteers down in the big garden this year and didn't stake them...oh boy.

[missy'smom]

I lost my zucchini plants this year too. I had several new zucchini recipes I had wanted to try out. However, asian thin skinned cucumbers did well and I've got miso pickles and sugar/vinegar pickles on hand. I made my own miso last year with the starter culture grown on brown rice so used that. Dried some sage and thyme for winter use. Will need to dry more. My stash didn't last me until the herbs came back in the spring, close, but not quite enough.

[miles2go]

I lost my zucchini plants this year too. I had several new zucchini recipes I had wanted to try out. However, asian thin skinned cucumbers did well and I've got miso pickles and sugar/vinegar pickles on hand. I made my own miso last year with the starter culture grown on brown rice so used that. Dried some sage and thyme for winter use. Will need to dry more. My stash didn't last me until the herbs came back in the spring, close, but not quite enough.

Our zukes did a nice harvest and are now died out, although the yellow squash are still cranking. I'm not sure why they went, there is a little bit of powdery white mildew, but it's more likely the blight from last year, the mini-drought they went through while we were away or a combination of the three.

I am in awe of your miso making abilities, would you mind sharing how you do that?

I've made my own amazake before, but it was pre-gluten-free and I don't remember if my koji source was gluten free.

Margaret

[missy'smom]

Our zukes did a nice harvest and are now died out, although the yellow squash are still cranking. I'm not sure why they went, there is a little bit of powdery white mildew, but it's more likely the blight from last year, the mini-drought they went through while we were away or a combination of the three.

I am in awe of your miso making abilities, would you mind sharing how you do that?

I've made my own amazake before, but it was pre-gluten-free and I don't remember if my koji source was gluten free.

Margaret

Miso making is really not hard. That was my first time making it and it was a large batch so lasted us quite a long while. Just takes some planning and time. Started it one day and finished it the next, then waited 3 months! My Japanese friend orders the brown rice koji from this company Open Original Shared Link It may be a product that is not advertised on their site. If so, contact them. We used both white Japanese short grain rice and soybeans in the making, as well as the brown rice koji. I have a batch of koji from her last order sitting in my fridge. Really need to collect the rest of the ingredients and get the new batch started!

[missy'smom]

Miso making is really not hard. That was my first time making it and it was a large batch so lasted us quite a long while. Just takes some planning and time. Started it one day and finished it the next, then waited 3 months! My Japanese friend orders the brown rice koji from this company Open Original Shared Link It may be a product that is not advertised on their site. If so, contact them. We used both white Japanese short grain rice and soybeans in the making, as well as the brown rice koji. I have a batch of koji from her last order sitting in my fridge. Really need to collect the rest of the ingredients and get the new batch started!

Here is the recipe I followed. Sorry, it's a translation from Japanese by a Japanese friend who's English is a little rough around the edges. We used a rice cooker to cook the rice. I also used a food processor on pulse, against the instructions. The soybeans break down during the fermentation process but not so much so get them close to what you want in the end. You can always process the mixture a bit more when it's fermented. When done, we weighted the top with misc. old rice, beans etc from the pantry(in plastic bags and on top of the surface that was lined with plasic wrap. Used a large food grade plastic tub wrapped with a lid, wrapped in a black plastic trash bag to keep out light. Used a light whiping of sake to sterilize the container, but use a very light hand otherwise the msio will take on too much of the sake flavor. Any neutral alcohol would be fine. Of course there are other rcipes out there on the net. To avoid adding in air when tranferring to the container, "throw" the mixture in.

＜How to make Hand made "White Miso"＞

Brown Rice Koji　　２lb

Rice　４合(4gou= 180ccx4= 720cc =US-3cup )

Soybean　８合半（６２５ｇ）(8.5gou= 180ccx8.5= 1530cc= about US-6cup1/3)

Sault　　２．２合＋上に乗せる重石用１ｋｇ <2.2gou(=396cc= 1cup2/3)+ 1kg for weight>

（１合=180.39ｍｌ）

・After cook 4gou of rice, blend Brown Rice Koji and the rice while it is warm. And wrap the entire bowl with news paper or a blanket, then put it in a warm place such as near a blow off from a heater unit.

・Put soy beans in water for a night

・Simmer soy beans until they become soft enough to be smashed by hand, and smash them while they are still hot. (it is better not to use a food processor. Put them into a big zip lock, and smash them by hands putting gloves or towel on.)

・Mix the Brown Rice Koji and the Rice and Sault, and smashed soybean. If it is hard, it might be good to add the boiled soybean soup.

・Put them into the container sterilized by alcohol avoiding air to be mixed with them. Make the surface flat and sprinkle alcohol to sterilize the surface. Then wrap the entire container. Please try to avoid air while putting into the container.

・Put sault as weight on the entire top wrap part, and place it in a cool dark place for three months.

・After three months, mix contents. If it become Miso already, move it into refrigerator. If it is not, put same place longer. If you see mold, take out them.

This amount of MISO will make 8QT(7.6litter)container full. You can spread into two container so that it is convenient when you put into refrigerator.

As reference, I ordered "Brown Rice Koji" from this web-site.

Open Original Shared Link

[miles2go]

＜How to make Hand made "White Miso"＞

Wow! Thank you so much!! I have a Japanese coworker, should I run into trouble. She doesn't cook much at all, but she'll be psyched that I'm making miso. I love to make food that you have to wait for.

[missy'smom]

Wow! Thank you so much!! I have a Japanese coworker, should I run into trouble. She doesn't cook much at all, but she'll be psyched that I'm making miso. I love to make food that you have to wait for.

You're welcome. I hope it makes some sense and that you can figure out the process.

Should you decide that the full instructions in Japanese would be helpful I have those too. My friend orders the koji for several ladies who have gotten into making it. Most of us had never made it before but gave it a go.

Here's the recipe for cukes pickled in miso. Open Original Shared Link

[purple]

We are growing purple kohlrabi this year that needs to be harvested soon and I was just searching recipes. I haven't tried it, but I'm excited to try a Punjabi recipe for it. In my Flavor Bible I found basil, butter, Parmesan, dill, garlic, mustard, sesame and soy sauce as complements that I want to try, too.

I love it when the compost bin sprouts. We got tons of tomato volunteers down in the big garden this year and didn't stake them...oh boy.

Me too! I started purple kholrabi indoors last spring, they transplanted well. I think they are so pretty...since purple is my favorite color

I don't know of any recipes, I was just going to eat/use it raw. I only tasted it once before, raw.

My compost is growing crazy too. I have several potatoes, 3 tomato (cherry) and lots and lots of cantaloupe. Great fun!!!